- •Independence, intelligence, and unique beauty of modern women. My heroes all have one thing in common:
- •375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, usa
- •I would like to thank Mark Stelljes, the rosarian I consulted as I researched this book. Mark, your information
- •Incredibly erotic dream of my life. I really didn’t give a damn what his face looked like.”
- •Instead of answering her, Mikki twirled an errant strand of thick, copper-colored hair and bought time by
- •It was a solid friendship, founded in trust and mutual respect. And Mikki had no idea why she was so hesitant
- •Intended to turn his face to hers—to open her eyes and to finally, finally see him. Then she had touched them.
- •I was crossing the street, and I heard something weird behind me.”
- •Incredibly articulate like ‘Whoo-hoo! You are one hot mamma, Red.’ That effectively killed the fantasy.”
- •I’m more horny than horrified.” She bit her bottom lip. “Is that awful?”
- •Vibrant, deep blue. If hope had a color, it would be the blue of the old woman’s eyes, and Mikki was struck
- •Very hardy. It makes a great hedge, and it blooms for almost four straight months.”
- •Is your name, my dear?”
- •Its light. Slate blended with mauve and coral in the fading day. Mikki knew the colors would wane quickly,
- •I aothing cd hide within it for long. Mikki opened the knife. The little blade was honed to a razorlike edge,
- •Volunteers at the Rose Gardens noticed it, Mikki would simply smile her way through their admonishments
- •In the psychic? I don’t remember Nelly saying anything about that.”
- •Insightful and well educated. They create worlds filled with strong, passionate women and honorable, heroic
- •It was exhilarating!
- •Intrigued, she searched her memory for details of Medea’s story. She vaguely remembered that the play was
- •I will love my sons and daughters, and adore the gods.”
- •Into her throat, so that when she continued the invocation, her voice strengthened and magnified. Had she
- •It took several minutes for Mikki’s cheeks to cool down. She could easily imagine the blazing red of her
- •Imposingly between the archway she had just walked beneath and the second stone archway, which framed
- •It only took a second for her to work the Band-Aid free from her left palm. The cut was already scabbing
- •It was so silent that Mikki imagined a soundless bubble had been formed around her made of roses and cool
- •It’s just a delusion, she reminded herself firmly. Nothing more than a symptom of my overactive imagination.
- •Inviting suddenly beat against them in a frenzy of scent and sound. They were caught in a vortex of
- •Impossible. Home was a nice little apartment in a great location, not a room fit for a princess. Mikki’s
- •Intermingled with ornate trees, hedges, fountains and statuary. In the heart of the gardens she thought she saw
- •If that were true, then it didn’t matter whether she chose to stay or return. Either way she was screwed
- •It smelled like home.
- •If you understood who we were when Nera and I welcomed you, but surely you know who we are now that
- •I had no idea I was a Priestess of Hecate until the goddess told me so herself. So it’s not just that I don’t
- •Voluptuous. Her body was lush; the blue silk lapped around her like translucent waves. Petite Aeras wore
- •In the center of the circle near the heart of the goddess’s flame.”
- •I think of movement and invisible power. It is a contradiction—a paradox. It cannot be contained, but it can
- •Inspired by the element’s personification, Mikki continued, “Fire is passion and heat. It consumes, but it also
- •In warmth and security, as if her mother’s arms were once again around her. With a catch in her voice, Mikki
- •Impulse or hesitate until she could second guess herself. Mikki danced. Within the circle she twirled and
- •In the midst of the sacred circle.
- •In his arms as the power of the goddess transported them to Hecate’s realm. He closed his eyes and leaned
- •In response to the flexing of his muscles, pain shot through his arms and chest. He welcomed it. The pain
- •Vigilant. He had been tireless in his devotion. And he had been alone, even during the brief moments when he
- •In the casting of a circle. She would not know that she must ground herself and use food and drink to
- •It was only when she stopped dancing that Mikki felt the return of her sick dizziness. So many women . . .
- •Illuminate. Its light danced off a crystal goblet filled with dark red wine. She lifted it, admiring the elaborate
- •In the darkest shadows, washing around her and causing the hair on her body to prickle. “It is a belief to
- •It was totally fucking Loony Tunes.
- •Is not appropriate. What I did for you is out of duty. It is why Hecate called me into her service. Do you
- •Instantly, he halted. “Have care where you step. The glass can cut through the soles of your slippers.” The
- •Impossible that I was aware again. At first I sensed you, but I could not see you. I only knew your presence.”
- •It was so beautiful that it weakened the disbelief and cynicism she had learned from a very young age to carry
- •Intelligent gray eyes looked unnaturally mature and out of place in the goddess’s smooth young face. “I rarely
- •I may be older, but that also means I’ve lived through more experiences, so I suggest they watch their silly
- •Important in either her mother’s or her grandmother’s life. Not that either of them hadn’t been wonderful,
- •Interior? Now she was saying that beauty was everything.
- •Vast forest, a kind of netherworld, which is the crossroads between reality and magick. On one side of the
- •Instincts, Mikado. Allow your spirit and the knowledge held in your blood to guide you, and you will do well .
- •Various other types of mantles.” Taking a wide, soft brush from the vanity dresser, Gii fussed with Mikki’s
- •Voice rumbled intimately between them. If‘Ђfro
- •Inexperienced young girl, had called him back to her without knowing for sure what she wanted to say.
- •It’s your turn to listen and answer.”
- •I can’t do it on my own, so the women are going to have to help me.”
- •Ignored the lingering soreness in her body and the vague nausea she seemed unable to get rid of and looked
- •Ignoring Gii’s sudden surprised intake of breath, Mikki tilted her head in what she liked to think was a
- •I have to finish up here and then take a bath or something because I am definitely a mess and—”
- •It seemed that these roses were greener and healthier than those in the rest of the realm. Beyond the beds of
- •It was true, but she squelched the thought, pulling her mind from the beast to the mystery that surrounded the
- •I’ll definitely need you in the morning. I’m going to have breakfast with the four Elementals. Could you be
- •Instead of being included in one of their groups at lunch . . .
- •In handy in your line of work.”
- •If he was afraid of crushing it.
- •It’s a great resource for me. Now I don’t have to worry about not knowing my way around.” She couldn’t
- •In entering her bed, the very thought of which was abhorrent to her. The sight of me was a constant reminder
- •I should not be here with you.”
- •It was impossible between them because he was making it that way. It was as if there was some kind of
- •If she asked the goddess outright and Hecate commanded her to stay away from him, then what would she
- •In return; she had shivered beneath his lips.
- •If he would be the only one to pay the price, he would gladly do so. He knew it for truth, even though the
- •Imagined that she was preparing to summon the Elementals and begin her day. He, too, must begin his. She
- •Ink, and she’d drawn her own considerably less-attractive lines to quarter the blueprint. “As I said before,
- •In the dirt as she demonstrated exactly how the earth needed to be worked around the roots of the bushes.
- •It had taken Mikado longer to inspect the southern section of the gardens. The roses were more ill there,
- •Its shadows to him and attempt to cloak himself from prying eyes. There he would rest and perhaps drink
- •Intoxicating than wine could ever be. Then he realized what she had said and commanded himself to stop
- •It was the exact green of her eyes. She knew it flattered her, just as she knew Daphne had brought it to her at
- •It was okay for her to touch him. But his only movement was the pounding of his heart and the drawing of his
- •View of the torch-lit gardens. The north side of the hall held door after door, each ornately carved with mystic
- •If they like the wish, they turn it into a dream.”
- •Is a dream you will grant.”
- •In Tulsa when you started coming to me in my dreams—and I didn’t even know the man within you then.
- •It was not enough! The beast within him roared.
- •Into stone. She pulled away, but only by a hand’s width, so she could meet his eyes.
- •Into the marble troughs that stretched from its base outward and all the way to the four corners of the
- •Invoked the spells?” Gii said.
- •Imagine what was going to go on in the women’s wing tonight. I wish the same thing was going on in my
- •Is that Crete?”
- •Into the realm.”
- •In the middle of which sat a huge pallet covered with more pelts. This is where he sleeps. The thought sent a
- •Voluptuous swell of her ass.
- •Imagined knowing the joy of.”
- •It is your love that sustains us.” He closed his eyes and buried his head in her hair, willing himself not to
- •In the mundane world. He would still be without her, but Asterius could live with that. He would miss her for
- •Inhumanly feral grace that the comparison was jarring. She didn’t desire the golden man, but she did feel a
- •In some harmless flirtation. And why not? She felt amazingly pretty and completely loved. But that didn’t
- •It is not. Perhaps he will choose to keep you to himself while we visit the women in the rest of your pathetic
- •Instantly, Asterius checked his attack.
- •It is the goddess you must beseech in the future.” Without another word, the Titan disappeared from the
- •Very much alive. Slowly, she lifted her eyes to meet her lover’s.
- •Victory for them. If they can taint your life, even after they’ve been banished, then they haven’t truly been
- •Idiot! Do you have bandages? Ugh—some of these look like they need stitches. There has to be a doctor in
- •In the barely controlled strength of his thrusts. Mikki didn’t close her eyes. She wanted to see him, to watch
- •Violently. Mikki pulled back to see that his eyes were closed and tears were slowly tracking their way down
- •Violence was left to disturb you.” Gii’s voice shook, and her face was deathly pale. “They’re dying, Empousa.
- •Varieties, with their double blooms and abundant midseason and fall repeat blossoming. But why had these
- •Irrigation for the realm. Is that true?”
- •In the spring they would grow back and be healthier and hardier than before. Roses were survivors—not the
- •Imagine it, and so she refused to think about it. She would do what she had to do when the time came. Until
- •Into the walls of the cave and lighting more torches until the bedroom was alive with warmth and light. He
- •Into the heart of the gardens. Mikki didn’t allow her mind to wander. She hurried up the stairs, barely glancing
- •Into Asterius’s bed . . .
- •I began to hope that perhaps Hecate had allowed me to live for so longt o±ђ† for another reason.” Sevillana’s
- •Is only part of my name. I rarely use my family name—it is too difficult for me to hear it and to know that I
- •Very least, forced me back to face Hecate’s wrath. Instead, he said one small thing and then stepped aside and
- •It all made horrible sense. Asterius’s behavior when they first met and were attracted to each other . . . How
- •Into the meadow, followed by a group of young, beautiful women. Their flowing chitons were draped
- •In the shadows, Hecate smiled and patted one of her great beasts on his dark head.
- •Into eyes that were so big and blue and beautifully dark lashed that she suddenly and moronically forgot her
- •I’m not sure whether to get her another dog, get her some Prozac or take her for a visit to the pet psychic.”
- •Interested in women like me.”
Impossible that I was aware again. At first I sensed you, but I could not see you. I only knew your presence.”
His voice was deep with a low, hypnotic sound, but his face remained expressionless, as if part of him had
become stone again. He did not meet her eyes. “Then the dreams changed. They became more real. I could
see you and feel you. Finally you called to me and I awakened completely. I knew you were Hecate’s
Empousa; only she could have awakened me. My mastery over magick returned to me, and so I brought you
here.”
“I thought I was going crazy,” Mikki said, wishing he would look at her or give her some hint about what he
was feeling. But he only stared, stone-faced, into the night.
“No, Empousa. You are not mad. You are fulfilling your destiny.”
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CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“YOU know that’s not really my name,” she blurted. Now why the hell had she said that?
He turned his head and finally looked at her again.
“Of course not. Empousa is a title of respect, not a name.”
“Well, it doesn’t really seem like it’s me yet,” she said. “Like just about everything here it seems foreign . . .
odd . . .” Mikki stifled a sigh, wondering how it could be that she was talking so easily with this man-creature.
“If not Empousa, then what shall I call you?” he asked.
“Mikki,” she said.
His thick brow furrowed, and for a moment she thought she caught the glint of humor in his dark eyes.
“Mikki? That is a name?”
“It’s not my given name, but it’s what everyone calls me.”
“What is your given name?”
“Mikado,” she said.
“Ah.” He nodded, and the candlelight glinted off a quick flash of too-sharp teeth as he smiled. “The Mikado
Rose. It is appropriate.”
Mikki took another drink of wine. With its spread of warmth through her body came a sudden, delicious sense
of heady courage. She cleared her throat and spoke quickly before she changed her mind. “What is your
name?”
“I am Guardian of the Roses.”
Mikki frowned. “But what do I call you?”
“I have always been called Guardian.”
“Guardian?” Mikki said doubtfully. “That sounds like Empousa—a title, not a name.”
“It is what I am. Title or name, there is no difference for me.”
His face changed again, and this time Mikki was sure she saw sadness there before his expression settled into
an unreadable mask. He was such a mass of contradictions. One second he was scaring the breath from her,
and the next he was making her feel pity for him. Her head was a little woozy. She was definitely more
relaxed—not exactly grounded, but relaxed enough to allow the next question to spill from her mouth.
“Am I making you up? Is this all happening just in my mind?”
“No. We are real, you and I. As is the Realm of the Rose and the goddess we both serve.”
“So I’m not asleep and dreaming this?”
“No, Mikado.” He enunciated her name carefully. “Not this time.”
His eyes caught hers, dark and expressive with the knowledge of what their dreams had become. “You are
very much awake, as am I. Finally.”
“Sometimes my dreams of you felt more real than the world around me.”
Slowly, not taking his eyes from hers, he moved closer to her and lifted his hand so his fingertips brushed
lightly over her cheek. “You broke the spell that entombed me. For that I will eternally owe you a debt of
gratitude.”e bбude.”
The heat of his brief caress made her shiver, and he quickly dropped his hand and stepped back.
“But why me?” Her voice was rough, as equal parts of fear and fascination struggled within her. “How could
I have broken a spell I didn’t know anything about?”
“You carry the blood of Hecate’s priestess within you. None other could have broken the spell and awakened
me.”
“I awakened you . . .” Mikki repeated. “And I’m here because you needed a spell lifted from you.”
“No, Empousa,” the Guardian said firmly. His words were stone, and the power that he had been keeping in
check roiled between them once more. “You are not here for me. You are here for the roses.”
Inadvertently, she cringed away from the force of his voice, once again fearful of the monstrous creature who
stood before her.
The Guardian sighed wearily. When he spoke, he had tamed his voice so it was no longer overpowering.
“I will leave you to finish your meal in peace. If you have need of anything, simply call and your
handmaidens will attend you. I bid you good night.” He bowed neatly to her, turned and blended back into the
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shadows from which he had emerged.
When she was sure he was gone, she unclenched her hands and wiped them across her face.
Breathe. Be calm. Breathe. Be calm. She let the words sink from her mind into her body. Instead of reaching
for the wineglass, she began to methodically eat meat and cheese. She needed to be able to think clearly.
Food made her feel more normal, so she ate and let the simple act of refueling her body rejuvenate her mind.
She didn’t take another drink or think more about the impossible conversation she had just had until the edge
of her hunger was gone and the woozy feeling in her head had cleared.
Mikki slowed her eating and sipped the wine. The food worked exactly as he had told her it would. She was
full, and she felt normal again—if she could use the word normal to refer to anything she was experiencing in
this fantasy world.
The creature . . . how could anything so terrible and powerful walk and speak like a man? As a statue she had
always thought of him as more man than beast, but seeing him alive—hearing him speak—had made her
understand all too well that he was not, could not, be only a man.
You are not here for me. You are here for the roses. The words seemed to echo on the empty balcony,
accusing and mocking her. She remembered the sadness that had shadowed his face. Did beasts feel sadness?
Would a beast think to have a sumptuous table set for a woman and then float a rosebud in her wine? Could a
beast enter a woman’s dreams and fantasies? And why would a beast touch her face with such gentleness?
He was not, could not, be only a beast, either.
Mikki tried to wrap her mind around the things he had said. He wasn’t a dream. He wasn’t a hallucination. He
was all too real.
You are here for the roses. He had told her that, and so had Hecate. But what did it mean?
“Tomorrow,” she said aloud. “Tomorrow I’ll find out.”
She drank the last of the wine and then with a groan of protest at her stiff muscles, she dragged herself from
the balcony and into her bedroom. While she had been busy circle casting and conversing with a living statue,
someone had blown out the chandeliers and all but one candelabrum. The fire was banked, but the room was
pleasantly warm after the coolness of the night. The thick bed linens were pulled back in preparation for her
and a nightgown, a twin of the one she had been wearing earlier, lay across the foot of the bed.
Before she changed into it, Mikki nervously closed the doors to the balcony and drew the thick velvet drapes.
Then she hastily peeled off her scanty ritual dress and gratefully slid on the soft nightgown. As she curled up
in the middle of the opulent down comforters she thought about how much she’d like a warm soak in a bath.
Man, her body was stiff. She sighed. She could tell she’d be sore as hell tomorrow. Her eyelids felt weighted.
It was impossible to keep them open.
Her final thought before she slipped into sleep was to wonder if he would visit her dreams that night . . .
The Guardian paced back and forth across his lair’s sleeping chamber. He should be pleased. He should be
celebrating his release. At last, after all those silent, frozen years, he lived and breathed again. And she was
here. It mattered little that she was inexperienced or that she was from the mundane world where he had been
entombed for so many centuries. She had Hecate’s blessing. Mikado was the new Empousa. The Realm of the
Rose would, once more, be set aright.
He remembered the fear in her eyes when he had stepped from the shadows, but he had watched as that fear
had changed, as it had become tempered with fascination, even while his power had intimidated her. He knew
what she was feeling. It was fascination for her that had awakened him. He had known it before, when she
had invaded his mind as his consciousness had been trapped within the marble body. He had not wanted to
admit it, not even silently to himself. But now that he’d seen her . . . talked with her . . . smelled her living
fragrance and touched the warmth of her skin . . . he could not delude himself any longer. His desire for her
was like air—it filled him, sustained him, and he only felt truly alive when he breathed her in.
“Why?”
He growled while he paced. A test. That was the only answer for it. Hecate had given him this burden to bear,
and by all the immortal Titans he would bear it!
Spring came early to the Realm of the Rose. Surely then the goddess would relieve his agony. Then he could
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return to the loneliness that had been a comfortable enemy. Until that time he would keep busy with his
duties, which, he admonished himself, did not include watching the Empousa eat. It had all been a lie his
mutinous desire had rationalized into temporary truth. He hadn’t needed to stay and watch, nor had he
needed to speak with her. The ritual had made her hungry and thirsty. Her body would have shown her
naturally what it needed to be grounded, and even the empty-headed Elementals d wб Elementawould have
eventually gotten around to explaining such a basic concept to the inexperienced priestess.
He must not delude himself. Staying away from her was the wisest choice. And that would be easy. He didn’t
need to see her to know when she was near; he knew her scent. His hands curled and he quelled the urge to
smash them into the smooth walls of the cave. Her scent would warn him if she was near, as would the sun
glinting off the rich copper of her hair. He had touched that hair in his dreams. He had run his hands along the
length of her smooth skin, reveling in its softness. And she had touched him in return, stroking his body as if
they were lovers. He had seen the memory of that touch reflected clearly in her eyes. He had longed to
respond to it, just as he had longed to respond to her body as it had shuddered beneath him in the last dream.
“No!” he roared.
He could not allow it to happen again. He had one chance to right his past wrong. He must not love her. He
could not. And this time he would not delude himself into believing that there was any chance she could love
him in return, though in reality her feelings mattered little. She was Hecate’s Empousa; therefore, she must
die.
The Guardian sank down on the thick pallet of furs on which he slept and buried his face in his hands. He
wanted to weep, but he felt empty of everything except pain and despair. There were no comforting tears
within him.
“Are you sorry that I allowed her to awaken you?”
The Guardian’s head snapped up and he beheld his goddess in her full regalia—headdress of stars, cloaked in
the veil of night, with her torch blazing in one hand and the other resting on the head of one of her massive
hounds. He fell to his knees before her, supplicating himself with his head bowed so low that his horns
touched the ground at her feet.
“Great Goddess! I rejoice that I am in your presence once again.”
“Arise, Guardian,” Hecate said.
“I cannot, Goddess. Not until I beg you to forgive my crime.”
“You did not commit a crime. You simply succumbed to the humanity I placed within you. I was mistaken
when I punished you so harshly for a weakness that I was ultimately responsible for gifting you.”
His shoulders shook with the effort it took for him to maintain control of his turbulent emotions. “Then I beg
that you forgive my weakness, Great Goddess.”
Hecate bent and touched his bowed head. “I demonstrated that forgiveness when I allowed my new Empousa
to awaken you. Now arise, Guardian.”
Slowly he stood. “Thank you, Goddess. I will not disappoint you again.”
“I know that. We will not speak again of a past which is dead. You have finally returned to me. The realm has
felt your absence keenly, as have I.”
“I am prepared to resume my full duties, Goddess, if you will grant it so.”
“I do.” Hecate scooped her hand through the air, gathering invisible power until her hand glowed. Then, with
a quick throwing motion, she tossed the brilliant pile of light on him and said, “I hereby return to you
dominion over the threads of reality.”
The Guardian’s head bowed again as the magickal power resettled into his body, filling him with its familiar
warmth. When he was able, he met his goddess’s gray eyes.
“Thank you, Hecate.”
“There is no need to thank me. I return to you what is yours. In all the time you were gone, the handmaids
never got the knack of it, not even the Elementals were as adept at turning reality into the threads that bind
the garment of mortal dreams as you.”
“I am eager to begin again, Goddess,” he said.
“I expect no less of you. But tonight I command that you rest. Tomorrow is soon enough to begin.”
“Yes, Great Goddess,” he said. He bowed his head again, expecting that she would disappear as she normally
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did in a shower of stars. When she didn’t, he glanced up, curious as to her hesitation.
“Goddess?”
“As you know, my Empousa has returned.”
Silently, he nodded his head.
“She is . . .” Hecate paused, choosing her words carefully. “She is not like the other Empousa. She is, of
course, from the mundane world. This realm is strange and new to her.”
“And she is older than the other priestesses,” he said. Hecate’s quick, knowing gaze made him silently curse
himself for speaking at all.
“That is true. It is also true that she is inexperienced in the duties of my High Priestess. Keep a watchful eye
on her, Guardian. She has much to learn and very little time in which to learn it. Beltane is not far away.”
He bowed his head. “I will do your will, Goddess.”
When she glanced up at him, her gray eyes were piercing. “This time I have taken steps to insure that you will
not be so easily tempted to err. With the return of your power over the threads of reality, I have given you
a”—she paused and her lips tilted up in a humorless smile—“let us call it a special thread of reality of your
own. I know your body burned for my Empousa and that she used that desire against you as you sought the
impossible. So you will never be tempted to betray yourself for lust again, know that I have made it
impossible for you to consummate your desire for a woman unless that woman loves and accepts you for the
beast you are, as well as the man who lurks within the creature’s skin. Henceforth, you will be safe from your
own impossible dreams. Do you understand, Guardian?”
Awash in shame, he bowed his head again. “I do, Great Goddess.”
Her voice softened. “I do not do this to be cruel. I do this as protection for you, as well as the realm. For what
mortal woman could ever truly love a beast?”
v height="1em" width="1em">Awaiting no response from him, Hecate raised her torch and disappeared in a
whirlwind of light, leaving her Guardian as he was before, alone and filled with despair.
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CHAPTER FOURTEEN
UNLIKE the first time, there was no confusion or lingering sense of displacement when she woke up. Mikki
knew exactly where she was. She opened her eyes to the perky light of full morning shining in a golden wave
through the wall of windows. Someone had drawn back the curtains, and she could see that the table she’d
eaten dinner at the night before had been reset for breakfast.
Had he directed that breakfast be prepared for her? Was he out there again, watching? Mikki’s stomach gave
a sickening lurch as she wondered what it would be like to see him in the full light of day. Last night he had
belonged to the darkness, like the boogey monster or a nightmare creature. Or . . . her imagination murmured
. . . a forbidden lover.
“Get a grip on yourself.” Mikki sat up, shaking her head as if the physical movement would clear the
ridiculous thoughts from it, and she was struck again by the beauty of the room that was now hers. Pushing
the Guardian from her mind, she intended to leap out of bed and glide gracefully to her balcony, as should
any woman lucky enough to live in a room this incredible, but the leap turned into a stagger, and the glide
became a stiff limp accompanied by a groan when she made her body straighten fully.
Oh baby, she was sore! She hobbled to the door. When the handmaidens had first met her, they had seemed
to think she was unusually old for an Empousa. Maybe that was because it took a damn teenager to withstand
the hidden torture of casting a circle and dancing around with a gaggle of women. Who knew? Even her hair
hurt. She sniffed at herself. And she needed a bath. A long, hot one.
She opened the door and was met by a cool, rose-scented breeze. It pulled her attention from the waiting
breakfast, her sore muscles and the mysterious Guardian, and drew her across the wide balcony so she could
look out over the vast gardens.
Mikki was awestruck.
The land that stretched before her was filled with bed after bed of roses. They blazed clouds of color in the
green sky of their branches. White marble paths circled labyrinthine around the beds, connecting them to
trees and shrubs and an occasional water feature. She could see the creamy marble of the domed roof of
Hecate’s Temple and the dancing reflection of the sun off the great central fountain that stood near it.